Lynnwood’s Caparas shoots 62 to break course record

After playing a round with Rudy Caparas and watching him shoot another round of 67 earlier in the week, the Walter Hall head pro told the Lynnwood senior-to-be that he could feel a special round coming soon.

That special round arrived Wednesday.

Caparas shot a second-round total of 62 to win the 2013 Joe Richer Junior Club Championship and break the course record at Legion Memorial Golf Course by four strokes on Wednesday. Caparas’ previous low round of 18 was a 64 at Walter Hall.

“Zac told me earlier in the week that I was going to break out of that box,” Caparas said. “I do feel like I was building up to a round like this.”

Caparas had seven birdies and two eagles in a round that broke former Kamiak golfer Reid Martin’s previous record of 66. Caparas’ two-round total of 129 — he shot a 67 in the first round at Walter Hall Golf on Tuesday — won the Blue Tee Division by 20 strokes over Kamiak’s Steven Cabanday.

“It was really exciting,” Caparas said of his round. “I just kept telling myself to keep it going”

Caparas’ round started birdie, birdie, eagle and he said he knew something special was happening. His first of two eagles was on the 546-yard, par 5 No. 3 hole and was capped by a 30-foot eagle putt. From there Caparas had only one bogey in the entire round and had the putter working.

“My driver and irons were OK but I was putting good all day,” Caparas said.

According to an email from Rex Fullerton, general manager of the Joe Richer Junior Golf Program, on the final hole Caparas hit his tee shot 310 yards on the 520-yard, par-5. After being told that the course record was 66 — he was sitting at 60 — Caparas hit his second shot 210 yards with a 4-iron that nearly went in, according to Fullerton, and stopped 4 feet past the hole.

He then finished his round in style.

“In front of about 60 people watching, he calmly sank the putt for the course record,” Fullerton wrote in the email.

The Caparas family had much to celebrate on Wednesday as Rudy’s younger sister Jazz won the Red Tee Divisin with a two-day total of 159 and younger brother Rodney won the Red Tee 9-Hole Day Division with a 48.

Caparas is the defending 4A District 1 champ and finished fifth in last year’s state championship at Camas Meadows.

Lake Stevens’ Anthony Guerrero (162), Gavin Blair (169) and Cascade’s Cameron Metcalfe (176) rounded out the top five in the Blue Tee Division.